Bryan Harvey (from House of Freaks), RIP

Richmond family slain
Musician, Carytown figure, daughters are killed
http://tinyurl.com/943a9

BY JIM NOLAN AND BILL MCKELWAY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Jan 2, 2006

A well-known Richmond couple and their two young daughters were found bound with their throats cut yesterday afternoon in the basement of their South Richmond home.

Richmond firefighters made the discovery about 1:45 p.m. after responding to a 911 call reporting a fire at the home of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey at 812 W. 31st St. in the Woodland Heights neighborhood.

Investigators said the family members had invited friends for a New Year's Day chili party that was to start about 2.

"Murder and arson -- for chrissake! -- in this neighborhood?" exclaimed 54-year Woodland Heights resident Stephen W. Tarrant, who lives across the street from the Harveys.

Officials said the case is being handled as a homicide and arson investigation.

Bryan Harvey was a noted musician with the band NrG Krysys and also worked in technology for the Henrico County school system. His wife was co-owner of the offbeat Carytown gift shop World of Mirth and active in the Carytown business community.

The Harveys had two children: Stella, 9, a third-grader at Fox Elementary School, and Ruby, 4, a preschooler at Second Presbyterian Church's child-care center.

As of late last night, police had not officially confirmed the identities of the victims.

The slayings shattered the serenity of a sunny and mild New Year's Day in Richmond and staggered residents of the leafy, middle-class community of young families and retirees -- a turn-of-the-century neighborhood within 10 minutes of downtown Richmond across the James River.

Officials were alerted to the scene by a local musician and fam- ily friend of the Harveys. Johnny Hott, who teamed with Bryan Harvey to form the local band House of Freaks in the 1980s and'90s, arrived with his daughter at the Harvey home about 1:40 p.m. to help set up for the party.

Hott said he walked into the house through unlocked front doors and immediately was engulfed in smoke.

"I yelled out, and no one answered, so I figured they all must be on a walk or something," said Hott, who saw no signs that the family was getting ready for the party. After checking the kitchen and seeing nothing on the stove, he ran from the home and yelled across the street for a neighbor to call 911.

Dozens of firefighters and police investigators converged on the two-story, red-brick corner home, where neighbors said the Harveys had lived for four or five years. Police Chief Rodney Monroe was at the scene, as was new Commonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring and two top deputies.

"It's obviously going to be a priority," Herring said.

One source close to the case said it did not appear there was extensive fire damage in the basement area, where the bodies were found.

Friends and authorities said Bryan Harvey had worked New Year's Eve, playing with his band at the Doubletree Hotel near Richmond International Airport and returning home about 2 a.m.

Friends and neighbors of the Harvey family said Stella spent New Year's Eve at a friend's house and returned home yesterday about 10 a.m., when she was greeted at the door by her mother.

"I never knew this family in any other way than as loving, wonderful people," said family friend Diane Vaccarino, one of dozens of friends who unwittingly arrived at the house anticipating a party, only to find a murder scene. Police forensics investigators and fire marshals worked into the evening yesterday trying to determine when the killings took place and when the fire was set. Homicide detectives were canvassing the area, interviewing friends, neighbors, band members and business associates of the couple in their search for clues.

Woodland Heights is more accustomed to petty vandalism and shed break-ins than murder. Neighbors and police said the last homicide occurred in 1987 with the death of Dr. Susan Hellams. Hellams, who lived several blocks away on 31st Street, was a victim of Timothy Spencer, whose killing rampage earned him the notorious nickname the South Side Strangler. Spencer was executed in 1994. Daniela Jacobs, principal of Fox Elementary School, where Stella was a third-grader, said she will pull together a crisis team to assist students and staff when school resumes tomorrow.

"We'll take all precautions needed to help [them]," said Jacobs, who lives two blocks from the Harveys.

"She was a wonderful little girl," Jacobs said of Stella. "She was a happy little girl."